The potential of using printing processes to manufacture displays is intriguing for numerous reasons. Printing would allow display manufacturing at high volumes and lower cost. The challenge is to develop the technology that would work best with printing.

adt GmbH believes it has the answer to this challenge. With 10 years of experience in electrowetting display technology, adt (advanced display technology) has developed its innovative Droplet Driven Displays.

Droplet Driven Displays are reflective, bi-stable, full-color, “lowest-power” displays offering unique properties for public display, ePaper and other indoor and outdoor display applications. Liquid colored droplets are driven by this technology in pixel structures. Droplet Driven Displays are particularly advantageous for displays where saving energy is of paramount importance.

“adt is a display development company,” said Dr. Jürgen Rawert, director business development for adt GmbH. “We are focused on a special type of ePaper display on electrowetting basis. Our proprietary reflective and bistable displays require certain structural elements, which can be produced on the basis of printing processes. We are actively following this route and evaluating relevant production processes together with partners. We believe that printing technology will offer us cost benefits.”

The key advantage for adt is its development of advanced eletrowetting technology, which offers excellent sunlight readability, printer-like greyscale and color reproduction and video speed capability. By utilizing this technology, flexible displays are possible. Dr. Rawert said that customers are taking note of adt’s capabilities.

“adt is working on electrowetting displays, a new type of reflective displays, which offers certain USPs (bistability, optical properties, color gamut, transflectivity, option to create color on basis of CMY) compared to standard LCDs, other reflective display technologies (e.g. EPD,chLCD….) and also to other electrowetting technologies,” Dr. Rawert said.

“We have achieved large display sizes on a module basis, and at the same time, larger pixel geometries for outdoor applications,” Dr. Rawert noted. “So far the perception is very good, as potential customers are recognizing the benefits for different application areas.”

adt’s potential markets run the gamut from small indicators and price tags to signage and advertising.

“Today, we are focusing on two application/market segments: low content/low speed/low size applications (indicators, status displays, price labels, among others) and public displays (signage/advertising),” Dr. Rawert said. “In a later stage, we will also address higher resolution and video speed applications as adt display technologies is also capable of covering such features.”

adt anticipates that the printed electronics market with grow in the coming years, as additional suppliers enter the PE field.

“The PE market will grow, and more and more companies will actively use PE technologies,” Dr. Rawert said. “adt is expecting a growth of suppliers of PE equipment and PE processes which can be used for display products.”